Project Description
This project consists of the renovation of a home that was built in the 1940s and had suffered an unfortunate addition in the 1980s. The main goals of the project were to restore the original vocabulary of the exterior while transforming the interiors to bring in more light and provide a better connection with a redesigned backyard. A simple material palette maintains a balance between the traditional aspects of the original house and the modern updates.
Located in a historic neighborhood, the front façade of the house had to remain unchanged for the most part, leaving the rear elevation of the house open to more dramatic alterations. Floor-to-ceiling windows replaced a heavy fireplace and French doors with thick mullions in the rear-facing family room; operable windows opened up the kitchen to the backyard; and a large three-panel sliding glass door transformed the den into an extension of the pool terrace.
The sense of disjuncture that had pervaded the interior was also present at the existing yard. The architects opened up the backyard by aligning a new lap pool with the new sliding glass doors of the den. The installation of three different patio spaces takes advantage of the new layout. The backyard patio immediately off of the main house provides a space for lounging and sunbathing, a side patio off the living room offers a fountain and a place for quiet reflection, and a covered patio behind the garage features an outdoor cooking area, fireplace and projection screen. A Sol Lewitt sculpture, visible from the main rooms of the house, increases the depth of the yard and provides a crisp and geometric focal point.
Painted white gypsum board walls are combined with several carefully selected materials used repeatedly throughout the house to achieve clean, balanced spaces that are not distracting. Ipe wood is used extensively on the interior and the exterior of the house, including the handrail at stairs, the ceiling and floors of the master bathroom, the paneling and cabinetry at the guest bedroom, and the pool trellis at the backyard patio. Stainless steel is the primary metal finish on the interior of the house, while soapstone and Carrera marble comprise the kitchen countertops, custom fireplace surround, and bathroom counters.
The material palette for the exterior of the house is simple as well. White painted wood-lap siding is the main material on the exterior of the house. The grey Kynar metal roof sets the standard for all other metal on the home’s exterior. Any exposed metal structure is painted to match, while the Kynar metal is used to wrap the chimney, the master bedroom window protrusion at the back of the house, the two sidewalls at the entry to the house, and the garage doors. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania bluestone is used extensively as the exterior paving material at the patios and for the pool coping.